Category Archives: Switched On

Switched On – Elninodiablo – The Downey Groove (El Niño Diablo Music)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Elninodiablo is the pseudonym of Berlin-based Stephanos Pantelas, who is releasing what he describes as ‘his most personal and unrestrained release to date’.

The Downey Groove took shape during a long stay in the mountains of Cyprus, Pantelas with only a laptop, headphones, and a field recorder for company. His sketches gradually evolved into an album proper, enjoying the differing styles of dub, synth-based electronica and freeform beats with good feeling. Live percussion rubs shoulders with boomy bass, Pantelas operating without a concept.

“For me, music is spirit in sound, truth expressed through frequency”, says the producer. “It moves through you. It transforms.” He goes on to describe the album as “a womb-like slap in the face and a warm, gentle cuddle.”

What’s the music like?

All of the above – but operating in a wide-open space, reflecting the place where The Downey Groove began.

This is freeform, feelgood music, themed loosely on dub-based rhythms operating at the speed of slower house or breakbeat. It is atmospheric and often drenched in heat; a definite boon this time of year. Highlights include the brooding, slightly glitchy Misteriosa Noche, while The Soul Monad is an effective fusion of electro and dub, with numerous soundbites.

Rodeotheque is a lot of fun, going continental with a big beat, but the best two are saved for late in the album, with The Downey Groove and especially Rise In Dub hitting the sweet spot.

Does it all work?

It does. The freeform music is easy to enjoy and kick back to, but the stealthy bass grooves don’t take long to work their magic if movement is what you’re after.

Is it recommended?

It is indeed – readily recommended to lovers of dub or easy-paced electronica. Good vibes abound, with plenty of bass!

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,683 – Friday 10 October 2025

New music – Chris Liebing & Speedy J – Collabs 3000 (NovaMute)

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adapted from the press release by Ben Hogwood

Collabs 3000 – Chris Liebing & Speedy J (aka Jochem Paap) -announce the 20th Anniversary Edition of their smouldering collision of taught techno rhythms and sonic abstraction, Metalism,and the release of tracks from their first collaboration in nearly two decades. Metalism will be available in full on vinyl for the first time, and on CD and digitally – both with the original artwork by The Designers Republic – on 14 November. That will be preceded by the ‘2025 EP’, available now on vinyl (limited edition of 500), with the digital following on 7 November, via NovaMute.

The 2025 EP kicks off with ‘Zwart’, a track of driving kaleidoscopic techno burrowing deep into your brain and limbs, and ‘Spiegeling’, where propulsive techno rhythms, and minimal ricocheting melodies coalesce for this essential dancefloor track. Both cuts offer a tantalising glimpse of what these two these two Techno titans have been creating nearly 25 years after they originally joined forces for Collabs 3000. Artwork for the EP is a playful nod to ‘Comedian’, Maurizio Cattelan’s controversial conceptual artwork and references the duo’s “bass banana”, which is passed between them to signal whose turn it is to lead the beats.

Techno innovators, Chris Liebing & Speedy J, began their Collabs 3000 project in 2001, at Frankfurt’s notorious U60311 club. Liebing and Paap, already key players in the European Techno scene, performed an off-the-cuff set that saw Liebing mixing out of a Speedy J live set and Speedy J bouncing off Liebing’s selections behind the deck, creating an utterly unique set.

Soon after that set the pair recorded at Paap’s studio in Rotterdam for a release for Speedy J’s celebrated collaborative series on NovaMute, Collabs. The resulting 12” helped to define the sound of early ‘00s Techno and their chemistry in the studio meant that they soon reconvened to record an album, Metalism.

The 20th Anniversary edition of Metalism has been remastered by Chris Liebing, and comes housed in the original art by The Designers Republic. The eleven relentless, layered tracks that move from brutal tough drums and dancefloor bound techno to more experimental meanderings, combine the pair’s mastery of subversive electronics and peak time techno and have lost none of their sheer power in the intervening years. 

The 20th Anniversary Edition of Metalism is available on double vinyl, CD and digitally on 14 November via NovaMute. Pre-order HERE
2025 EP is out now on limited vinyl, and digitally on 7 November via NovaMute. Pre-save HERE

Published post no.2,661 – Thursday 18 September 2025

Switched On – John Tejada – The Watchline (Palette Recordings)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The press release for John Tejada’s new album puts his subtle shift in musical direction in perspective. The Watchline is described as “a quiet evolution in tone and form”… “emotionally focussed, sonically weathered”.

His fifteenth album, it is a more personal affair, more than likely influenced by experiencing the trauma of the 2024 fires in California, more or less on his doorstep.

What’s the music like?

Tejada’s deeply personal writing is some of his best music yet. Always a consistent producer, he has often explored the mechanical side of techno to excellent effect – but this time, bringing in tightly woven guitar lines and strong, solid beats, he has hit the sweet spot.

Until The End Of The World encapsulates where he is right now, a dynamic track that builds gradually but with increasing strength and depth, and an underlying feeling of strength in adversity.

Tejada uses a beefier sound here, with bigger drums that are especially evident on the scattered beats of Hollowcrest and the excellent Vaporail, a broken beat shapeshifter. Elsewhere there are widescreen panoramas, with the broad expanse of Driftreturn a notably open affair, while Static Searching benefits from an excellent blend of strong, danceable rhythms and electronic chatter, topped with guest vocals from March Adstrum.

Does it all work?

It does. A cohesive and really strong set, with no weak links.

Is it recommended?

It is. Always a consistent producer, John Tejada has excelled himself here with some of the finest music he has made to date. Emotive and beautifully weaved together, this is a deeply rewarding collection of subtle yet meaningful techno music.

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,659 – Tuesday 16 September 2025

Switched On – Faithless – Champion Sound (ADA)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The longevity of UK dance artists from the 1990s is truly impressive – with some, like Faithless, evolving through forced circumstances. When they lost the charismatic frontman Maxi Jazz in 2022 to a long-term illness, bandmates Rollo and Sister Bliss harnessed the spirit of collaboration, bringing in extra voices while acknowledging their band could never be the same again. And yet there is still room for ambition. Champion Sound is the biggest Faithless album to date, a ‘double double’ epic that takes its listener on a voyage. It is cleverly divided into four, essentially a group of mini albums that can be experienced as separate entities or as part of the bigger whole.

What’s the music like?

Consistently good. Champion Sound shows that the versatility Faithless showed in first two albums Reverence and Sunday 8pm was not misplaced – and they build on it impressively here.

We visit the club – of course – but in two very different ways. The second segment, Phone Number, tells through vocalists Nathan Ball and Amelia Fox the story of a couple who meet on the dancefloor but then can’t work out if their attraction is genuine or was situation-bound. Their songs are vulnerable and at times hit an emotional high.

Book Of Hours follows this, a broad instrumental section of reflective landscapes. Conceived as a tribute to DJ Shadow’s Entroducing album, it builds slowly but surely, opening out with strings and intricate breaks before an affirmative choral section, surely destined for Ibiza’s Café Del Mar.

From here the natural goal is within sight, and Champion Sound itself ends on a high with four no-nonsense anthems, making great use of guests L.S.K. (on the title track), Suli Breaks and Bebe Rexha (on the excellent anthem Find A Way) and finally Anthony Szmierek’s closing thoughts on Yes I Want It Too. Setting all this up is the first section, Peace And Noise, where Suli Breaks is the ideal match for the beats. “Let’s find love between the beats”, he suggests, “before we search for it between the sheets. Can we put the world on pause, while we take the night off and rejoice?” Prior to this we hear some of the last words recorded by Maxi Jazz, his brooding presence eliciting both a smile and a tear.

Does it all work?

Pretty much. It is hugely ambitious, and time constraints will mean Champion Sound can’t be experienced in its entirety – which is where the decision to divide it into four mini-albums of differing moods pays dividends.

Is it recommended?

It is – a really impressive achievement by Faithless, an album of highs and lows that shows Rollo and Sister Bliss still have the fire for their art. It rewards both dancing and thinking in equal measure.

Listen / Buy

You can explore purchase options for Champion Sound on the Beatport site

Published post no.2,657 – Sunday 14 September 2025

Switched On – Various Artists – Silberland Vol.3: The Ambient Side Of Kosmische Musik 1972-1986 (Bureau B)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The Silberland series from Hamburg label Bureau B has looked at Kosmische Musik and The Driving Side Of Kosmische Musik in previous volumes, covering electronic music from 1974 to 1984. This third instalment casts the net a little wider, unearthing pioneers of ambient music from as far back as 1972.

There are some familiar names among the tracklisting – Brian Eno, Moebius, Roedelius, Faust, Conrad Schnitzler to pick just a few – but Bureau B have cast the net wider still, in their words “coasting far beyond the familiar rhythmic terrain to explore crystal caverns and emerald pastures, immersing listeners in the ambient side of this alternative Allemagne. Building on the tape loops, tone poems, and minimalist compositions of the 60’s avant-garde, these musicians utilised the sweeping scope of the synthesiser to create expansive meditations on outer-planetary escapism, human connection, and the natural world. This compilation offers a survey of this singular era, blending pioneering voices with lesser-known artists for an immersive sonic experience.”

What’s the music like?

Ambient, of course – but full of bubbling creativity too, and intelligently structured. There is a lot to learn here for the intrepid musical explorer, while the big names are a reliable draw for those approaching cold.

Many of these pieces balance a broad ambient canvas with foreground activity, to really good effect – and with the indication that more classical composers such as Steve Reich or Philip Glass were providing subtle inspiration in the background. Roedelius, an original, balances a serene upper line above lightly pulsing activity in Veilchenwurzeln. Hope Is The Answer gurgles approvingly under the watchful eye of Rolf Trostel, as does Conrad Schnitzler‘s Electric Garden, while Serge Blenner‘s Phrase IV explores a kind of cosmic minimalism.

What also impresses greatly here is the sonic range of the label’s choices, with the soft-grained, guitar-led Tedan a rather beautiful addition from Lapre. The wispy trails of Riechmann‘s Abendlicht paint an evocative pictures, reassuring in their consonant harmonies – as is the regular pulse of Per Aspera Ad Astra, a reassuring beacon in the hands of Adelbert Von Deyen. Moebius and Plank explore slow, dubby terrain through Nordöstliches Gefühl, in contrast to the restful Southland from Rüdiger Lorenz.

Does it all work?

It does – with repeat plays rewarded handsomely, the detail just above the broad ambience of a lot of these tracks revealing more with every turn.

Is it recommended?

Wholeheartedly – an essential purchase for anyone interested in electronic music from the 1970s and 1980s. Silberland vol.3 is a highly enjoyable and occasionally quirky on a genre that has grown to become one of the most active and creative areas in music today.

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,642 – Saturday 30 August 2025